This book was dark, pretty twisted, and parts were highly controversial, or it probably will be to most readers. Another thing about this book--it's fantastic! I was hooked and totally enjoyed the storytelling style and characters. Five stars.

I read this in two sittings, which could be considered a good review in itself. The 'secret' is revealed early on but I was compelled to read on to find out what the rest of the story would reveal. Not much else, as it turned out. Still, it was an easy read, despite the tough subject matter. Other reviewers have commented that they thought the subject was brushed over a little too lightly, but I thought that was the point - that it was the consequences that was the story.

This is a heartbreaking story that you can't put down. It's dark and gripping. It's almost like passing a road accident, you should look away but it gets you in it's horrible grip. I kept thinking, this could be real. We never know what goes on behind closed doors.

'Not an easy butterflies and sunshine kind of love... a dark, twisting horror show of love'

It's not doing this book any favours by describing it in terms of a twisting thriller - it's not. Yes, there is the mystery of the disappearance of Allegra but there's so much more to the story than that, and what I presume is meant by the 'twists' is made clear very early in the narrative. Instead, this is a gorgeous, disturbing and true story about the different forms that love can take: tender, raw, brutal and brutalising, devastating, debilitating, acutely destructive, perverse, exploitative or innocent.

The crooked heart of the book is Roanoke, a large mansion in Kansas where the eponymous Roanoke girls have lived and died or from where they have fled. The narrative moves between 'then' when Lane, just 16, is sent there to live with her grandparents after her mother's suicide; and 'now' when Lane who ran away after one summer there, returns after 10 years following the disappearance of her charismatic but troubled cousin Allegra.

The book plays with literary influences: the old house with its inbred secrets of Southern Gothic; the Persuasion plot of a second chance at lost love; the 'new girl in a small town' trope - but it gives them all a feeling of freshness and naturalness so that they don't feel reused.

What makes the book is Engel's emotional delicacy and sensitivity: she takes a dark and difficult subject and treats it with emotional nuance and subtlety. Her characters leap off the page: Lane the tough survivor but with a yearning edge she's never lost; Allegra the charismatic wild child who keeps her secret anguish hidden; Tommy the good guy trying to do the right thing; Cooper whose own troubled background belies his golden appearance. The book drips with the heat of the Kansas sun, and the sexual chemistry between Lane and Cooper is palpable.

Most of all, this is a book which avoids either sensationalism or black and white stereotypes: there's an understanding here that is generous while still being absolutely clear about where moral boundaries lie. This is not a book for anyone who wants cosy, comfortable reading - it's extreme in parts, though never graphic, and takes us to some very dark places. For all that, this completely captured my imagination: I found myself carrying this everywhere and reading slowly, partly to make the experience last and partly because so much of the real story happens in the spaces that open up between what people say and what they mean.

Overall, then, a fine piece of writing from Engel, and one of my favourite (though I realise that's an odd word given some of the subject matter) books of the year.

Devastatingly Dark

I had heard a lot about this book before I even turned the first page, I'm pleased to say that it deserves the hype and definitely did not disappoint! It's subject matter is beyond harrowing yet it is dealt with in such a way that it is a joy to read. Compulsive and utterly compelling, I devoured it within 24 hours, it would've been a much shorter time frame if real life hadn't have got in the way!

Thank you so much to the Publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book as an arc.
The story features 15 year old Lane, whose mother commits suicide, and she has to return to the family home in Kansas to live with her grandparents. There are pictures on the wall of all the females of the family, the Roanoke girls. As Lane's cousin Allegra tells her - all the Roanoke girls either run away or die young.
The main theme of the book is incest and sexual abuse which is obviously dark and disturbing. The problem is that the extent and the complicity with which is happens makes it seem unrealistic and implausible. The book was very well written and extremely evocative of teenage life in the summer heat and claustrophobia of small town America. I just felt nothing much really happened, the same story was repeated continuously.

At the age of 15, Lane loses her mother to suicide and goes to live for the summer at the family home. Her mother left while she was expecting Lane so she’s never lived there herself. She becomes friendly with her capricious cousin Allegra, but leaves after a few months. As they say, Roanoke girls run, or they die. Lane returns ten years later, summoned by her grandfather, when Allegra is reported missing.

What a tangled web! This is a deeply dysfunctional family. I think some people dislike the premise but these things happen – can’t say more without spoilers. However, I found it stretched my credulity that in a place like Osage Flats, where people knew when their neighbours changed their minds, nobody had guessed what was happening, and that nobody in the family had stood up against it. I felt that shock value was pursued almost as an end in itself and it weakened the impact of the story, for me. I enjoyed reading it but couldn’t completely sink myself into it. Very much worth a read but too much of a stretch for me.

Thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for a review copy of the book.

My review appears on Amazon under the name Ignite.

I wish someone would have warned me about the emotional ride I was starting on when I picked up this book! The storyline had me part heartbroken and part disgusted. The characters, especially Lane, Cooper, Tommy and Allegra, were so well written I believed everything about them, each fundamental flaw in their personality. An amazing book the whole way through, I couldn't put it down, and finished it in 4 hours.

This is chilling, dark and disturbing fiction from Amy Engel, set in the oppressive and overpowering heat of Osage Flats, in rural Kansas, where the Roanake girls end up running or dying. Fifteen year old Lane had a tense and difficult relationship with her mother who commits suicide. Shocked and adrift, she comes to live with her maternal grandparents in Kansas and bonds with her beautiful and off the wall, troubled cousin, Allegra, with whom she shares a remarkable resemblance. She takes to living there like a duck to water, having a delightful summer, whilst at the back of her mind are the warnings that her mother gave about the Roanokes. Lane comes back down to earth with a bang when she becomes privy to the monstrous secrets of the family. She runs to California, having failed to persuade Allegra to join her. The narrative is delivered primarily through the perspective of Lane and with two timelines.

Eleven years later, Lane has been both married and divorced, when she gets a call in the night from Yates, her grandfather, informing her that Allegra is missing. Heeding Yates, Lane is compelled to return and search for Amy. Did she run or has something infinitely worse happened to her? This puts her back in touch with Tommy, who is now married and a sheriff, and Cooper, who she develops feelings for. Additionally, it provides the opportunity to potentially to face up to and confront the toxic house of horrors deeply embedded secrets. We learn the stories of a string of Roanoke girls. Lane's strong connection with Allegra make her determined to find out what happened to her.

Amy Engel is a gifted and atmospheric writer who manages to write about upsetting and distasteful issues without dwelling on them in depth and thereby keep the reader onside. Beautifully written, Engel handles the traumatising issues with subtlety and finesse. She does this through her range of flawed characters, who are developed with expertise, so much so that they feel real and authentic. I felt for the broken Roanoke girls and their desperate fates. The crimes committed against them engender a torrent of confusion, mixed emotions and with long term implications for their emotional welfare. Lane becomes aware of what her mother went through and only begins to understand her after her death. A gripping and compelling read, but not a novel for everyone given the issues involved. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.

Aged 15, Lane Roanoke is sent to live with her grandparents on a remote farm in Kansas after her mother’s suicide, a place which she has dreamed about based on what her mother once told her, but is entirely different from everything she imagined. Now aged 26, though she has left the farm, never wanting to return, she is called back as her cousin Allegra, who she spent the summer living with as a sister when she was 15, is missing. With stories of every other “Roanoke Girl”, as they are known, either running from that family home and never returning, or turning up dead, Lane knows that something isn’t right so she returns, only for the mystery to deepen and more family secrets to be revealed.
This is one of those books that’s difficult to talk about without giving the game away, although it is revealed fairly early in the story. It was gripping, terrifying and, quite frankly, disturbing at points, but was a brilliant read. I’m pretty certain it’s going to be a popular read for 2017.

I was tempted to read this by the press and a friend tweeting that it was compelling. Compelling it was, I was keen to finish it, although that was primarily due to it being quite rubbish. A lot of the reviews talk about the bravery of the reveal coming early. True, but I'd still already clocked it. I've never before so fully understood the writer's plea to show, not tell. Engels tells us Lane and Cooper are awful to each other (are they?) that Grandad is charismatic (is he?) and that Lane loves Allegra (why?) The characters lives are ever changed by 10 weeks when they were 16 - really? Stupid and not shocking.

A fantastically dark and intriguing story surrounding Roanoke. Chilling and sometimes psychological, The Roanoke Girls is a must-buy for both adults and teens alike!